Baghdad: A year after the fall
From the Wolf Blitzer Reports staff in Washington:
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Friday marks the one-year anniversary of the fall of Baghdad.
In the Iraqi capital, U.S. forces were pulling down posters in Firdos Square of Muqtada al-Sadr, the Shiite cleric behind much of the current anti-American uprising.
In the same location -- one year ago -- U.S. soldiers stormed Baghdad, toppling Saddam Hussein literally and figuratively.
Friday, a mortar shell fired at a major Baghdad hotel served as a loud reminder that the U.S.-led coalition's work is far from over. It missed, hitting a tennis court instead. No one was hurt.
The head of the U.S. Central Command summed up the situation:
"It's certainly not the same level of intensity that we had during the movement phase of the war. It's a counter insurgency up here, and it's an operation against an illegal militia force here in the south," said Gen. John Abizaid.
That operation includes the city of Kut. At time of writing, U.S. military officials were reporting progress in taking back the town from al-Sadr's Medhi Army.
They said American soldiers destroyed al-Sadr's office there and secured strategic sites. The officials also said tribal leaders in Kut are on their side -- disgusted by the violence of al-Sadr's uprising.
In Fallujah there was a lull after days of fierce fighting between U.S. Marines and insurgents. American commanders halted their offensive to allow negotiations between anti-American forces and Iraqi leaders -- but:
"The coalition remains firm that should these discussions break down, this, the coalition military forces are prepared to go back on the offensive operations and at no time during the suspension of offensive operations do soldiers forfeit their inherent right of self defense," U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said Friday.
In the north, fresh hot spots emerged, including Mosul, where violence broke out after a demonstration.
